Temperance
by Emmaline Firestone
Summary: Emiko had always been a normal girl with a few problems. Her best friend had moved to Inaba, and finally she was going to Inaba too! However, it's never that simple. This is basically Persona 4 with my own character. YosukexOC
1. Chapter 1

Yosuke walked through an aisle at Junes, trying to find that one item that his mom "desperately" needed. It just happened to be the one thing that was very close to going out of stock that week. But his mom had told him to go try to find it anyway, so there he was, wandering around Junes. All of a sudden, he was almost bowled over by someone hugging him so quickly he didn't even see her face.

"Yosuke! I missed you!" she exclaimed. Wha—he didn't remember anyone like this...The figure pulled back and pouted a little. That expression did look familiar...

"You're such a dork! How can you not even remember me? Emiko! Remember Emiko from Tokyo?"

Wait. What?

"Emiko! Why are you here?" Yosuke said, grinning as he pulled her back into a hug.

"My dad decided to move to Inaba because he got a new position in a city close to here; that place had no more homes available, so he decided to come here to commute." Emiko explained. "I, of course, pushed for Inaba because I knew you had moved here and I was concerned that you totally forgot your best friend ever."

"I bet you're regretting it now, considering there's nothing to do in Inaba. And I'm not going to forget you, idiot." Said Yosuke.

"I dunno, you did a pretty good job of forgetting me a couple of minutes ago." Emiko stuck her tongue out at him. "And I've only been in town literally since a couple of days ago. We had to unpack and get me enrolled at school, which I'm starting tomorrow!"

"Then we'll see each other tomorrow? Good luck if you end up being in my class...then you get King Moron." Said Yosuke. Emiko grinned.

"Morooka? I'm not in his class. I'm in Ryuzaki-sensei's class."

"Lucky pig. I get lectured every day about not hitting on girls and getting spit all over my face while you get to be in a nice, normal class." Said Yosuke moodily. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he saw he had a text from his mother. "Gotta go—my mom wants me home. Seeya!"

Yosuke ran off, belatedly realizing that he didn't get what he came for. But he did see his best friend from Tokyo, so...it wasn't all bad compared to the scolding he would get when he got home.

Emiko, meanwhile, was happily getting snacks to eat at home. Because she at least knew she wouldn't be completely alone tomorrow...she had been shy and not been able to open up to anyone in Tokyo until Yosuke brought her out of her shell. With his help, she had become more extraverted. But going to a new school would bring back her old self, so she was glad that Yosuke would be there to help her.

* * *

Emiko wandered around the hallway. She had forgotten which class she was in, so she decided to just try all of the classrooms and see which one was right. So she went in one.

That classroom happened to be Yosuke's classroom. He was talking to the girls and Souji, like always, when he noticed a familiar face enter the classroom.

"Emiko? Why're you here? You're not in this class." He said. Emiko looked at him and backtracked to see the sign above the door. She popped her head back in the classroom and laughed awkwardly.

"Apparently not. I forgot which class I was in. So I can cross 2-2 Off my list now." She said.

"You're across the hall with Ichijo—you know what, I'm just going to show you since you _suck at directions—_"

Emiko's mouth dropped open.

"I resent that! I just have a bad memory!" she said. Yosuke pushed her out of the classroom across the hall to class 2-1.

"This is your class—go make friends." He said. She looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

"You and I both know that's not going to be easy." She said.

"Look, I know I'm the only one you really opened up to. And even if you started talking back in Tokyo, you're still going to be shy. But I'm commanding—_commanding_—you to talk to people. Start with those guys over there-Kou Ichijo and Daisuke Nagase. They're pretty friendly." Said Yosuke. "Gotta go—King Moron will have my head if I'm late."

Emiko waved goodbye to him as he ran back to his classroom. Before she could put her stuff down, the bell rang and everyone ran to his or her desks. The teacher walked in as soon as everyone had sat down.

"Listen up! As many of you new, a new student has transferred to our school. I know it's in the middle of the first semester, but I hope you'll be friendly and show her around." Said Ryuzaki-sensei. She looked expectantly towards Emiko for a few moments before Emiko realized she was supposed to introduce herself. She faced the class and bowed.

"Hello everyone! I'm Emiko Suzuki. I just moved here from the city, and I hope you'll all take care of me! Thank you!" she said, hoping she sounded friendly.

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to talk to everyone during lunch and after school, so you can find a seat now." Said the teacher. A boy with bluish hair in the back raised his hand.

"Ryuzaki-sensei, can Suzuki-san sit here?" he said, indicating the desk next to him. A few desks ahead, a boy with a bandaid looked at him with a _you player_ kind of look. The teacher nodded and Emiko walked over and dropped all her books on the desk.

"I'm Kou Ichijo. Nice to meet you, Suzuki-san." The boy said, sticking his hand out. Emiko smiled.

"Nice to meet you too, Kou-kun. Please, call me Emiko. I always feel weird when people call me by my last name." she said. Kou nodded.

"Since you're starting in the middle, you may have some trouble catching up. You're welcome to borrow my stuff if you want it. And I can help you catch up." He said. Emiko nodded.

"Could I borrow your things during lunch then?"

"Sure. You should have lunch with us too!" said Kou.

"Thanks!"

* * *

"Care to tell us how you know her?" Chie asked with an eyebrow raised. Yosuke blinked at her before he realized that she meant Emiko.

"She's my best friend from Tokyo and she just moved here a few days ago." He explained.

"And you haven't tried to make a move on her." Chie said. Wha—

"No! Emiko's not the sort of person I would even try flirting with. And she's just my friend. I swear!" Yosuke spluttered.

"We believe you." Souji interrupted with an amused look on his face. "You don't need to justify yourself."

"Well—anyway, just be friendly and _don't growl at her, Chie._ ("Hey!") She has trouble opening up to people and especially at a new school, she'll close herself up, even to me." Said Yosuke. "And Chie, don't you dare let anything slip about the Midnight Channel. I don't want her involved."

"Hey! Why me?" Chie exclaimed.

"Cause you blab stuff to people." Yosuke said. Chie kicked him where the sun doesn't shine. "S-shit! Critical hit...!"  
-

"Thanks for having lunch with me, guys. Not a lot of people would want to spend free time explaining things to the new kid." Emiko said, eating her lunch. She, Kou, and Daisuke were eating lunch in the classroom.

"Hey, no prob. It was time something exciting happened around here." Kou said, grinning.

"Dude, the midnight thingie doesn't constitute as 'exciting'?" Daisuke said, frowning.

"Uh, no, considering I've never seen the hype in it. It shows you a silhouette of your 'soul mate', big deal. Not like you can actually tell who it is, anyway. And as far as I know, everyone sees the same thing. Which is sort of weird, to tell the truth..." Kou said, rubbing his chin.

"Midnight thingie? What's that?" Emiko asked.

"It's something that comes on your TV at midnight when it's raining...it's called the Midnight Channel? And supposedly, it shows your soul mate. Though I've never believed in it. Some guy a few months ago was telling everyone about how Mayumi Yamano was his soulmate, but that's bullshit." Daisuke explained.

"It's just an old tale in Inaba, though. One exciting thing. Another is the murders..." said Kou. "Well, they're not fun, persay, but they put Inaba on the map, so to speak. You heard Mayumi Yamano died here? Hung upside down? Well, a student from Yasogami High also died, hung upside down on a telephone pole. Same way, no apparent cause of death. No killer yet."

"She...was murdered? What was her name?" asked Emiko.

"Saki Konishi."

"Konishi...Konishi...I feel like I know that name..." muttered Emiko.

"Konishi Liquor?" Daisuke supplied helpfully. "Her parents run a liquor store in the shopping district. Or it could be her brother, whatshisname..."

"Naoki?"

"Naoki, that's it."

Emiko frowned.

"I seem to have come at the wrong time, then." She said.

"Aw, no. The murders have stopped for a while. I mean, a while ago, Yukiko Amagi was gone from school for a while, and we all thought she would die next, but she came back and she's fine now." Said Kou.

"Yukiko?"

"Class 2-2. Wears red. Loved by all male students. Her parents own an inn called the Amagi Inn." Said Daisuke. Oh! The girl who was talking with Yosuke before he showed Emiko to her class.

"I do love mysteries. Ask anyone. Actually no, no one except Yosuke knows me here." Said Emiko.

"How do you know Yosuke?"

"He and I were friends when we were in Tokyo. I was the one who gave him those headphones, actually." Said Emiko, shrugging.

"Yeah, I was wondering about those. He never seems to use them that much during the day. Dunno about later though. But he wears them all the freaking time, to every single freaking event with every single outfit. Figured it was for sentimental reasons." Said Daisuke. "Ooh~it's love~"

"Nice to know he remembered me-hey! No! It is not love. We're just best friends, that's all!" said Emiko, making a face. "He's not my type, anyway."

"What is your type?"

"Not idiotic."

"Ouch."

* * *

Emiko peeped into Yosuke's classroom after school.

"Hey, Yosuke? ...Where do I live?" she asked sheepishly. You could just see Yosuke facepalming.

"Yeah. You suck at directions."

"I'm going to stick with my earlier statement that I just have a bad memory. Where's the second street on Sakura?"

"Y'know, that's close to Junes. Hey, wanna come hang out at Junes with us now?" Yosuke looked questioningly at Souji—no one was in the TV, so they wouldn't go into the TV today. Souji nodded. "I'll take you home after that."

"Sure. Are you treating? Think of it as a welcome to Inaba gift, which I will gladly accept." Said Emiko. "I'll wait at the gate."

Emiko disappeared from the classroom, presumably downstairs.

"You _are _treating though, Yosuke?" asked Chie. Yosuke sighed.

"I guess I am...am I treating all of you?"

"Yes."

* * *

"So Suzuki-chan, how's the city?" asked Chie.

"Oh, it's normal. And call me Emiko, people call my dad Suzuki-san. Speaking of, Yosuke, is it okay for me to be here?" said Emiko.

"Well, my dad doesn't come up here often. But he has nothing against you personally, so you're fine. I'm not going to bend over backwards for my dad." Said Yosuke.

"Are your families not close?" asked Yukiko.

"They used to be—at least, our fathers were. Then something went wrong when they were in school and now they're business enemies." Emiko explained. "They never really approved of our friendship."

"We-ell, I'm sure he'll be okay with you eventually. Anyway, we should go eat croquettes or something sometime. They're really good here—Inaba's specialty! That, and grilled steak. And the Amagi Inn. Other than that, we're pretty boring." Said Chie.

"I dunno, it seems interesting. Kou-kun and Daisuke-kun told me about the Midnight Channel. Have you tried it?" asked Emiko. The group looked at each other uneasily.

"Uh—yeah, once. Just a dark figure though. Haven't tried it since." Yosuke lied.

"Forecast says it won't rain for a couple of days...but I should try when it does. Apparently, that's the only interesting thing in town." Said Emiko.

"You don't do much else but hang out with your friends here. Sometimes people go shopping in _, but there's honestly not much." Said Yukiko.

"Are you trying to get me to move back?" Emiko joked. "Not that I would. I pretty much begged-yeah, that's enough information from me."

"Uh-uh, missy. Why'd you have to beg to come here?" said Chie suspiciously.

"I—uh—I'm a shy person and I don't talk to anyone except certain people." Started Emiko. "Or rather, a certain person and people around this certain person. City life was pretty much how it used to be before I met this certain person, but that certain person moved here, and-damn, this is embarrassing." Emiko was blushing now. Yosuke, who had gotten the hint, was also faintly blushing. Souji, picking up on it, raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Chie was, of course, still oblivious.

"I don't get it. Who?" she asked.

"Do I really have to?" Emiko said, retreating in her chair a little. "Because people jump to the wrong conclusion all the time and I never like telling people my story..."

"We won't! I promise! And you don't have to tell us everything...I mean, we did just meet you, we understand." Said Chie.

"See, Chie, this is what I mean by 'growling'." Yosuke hissed. Chie waved a hand at him to tell him to shut up.

"Er...that certain person...wouldbeYosuke." Emiko just about whispered.

"Holy—Yosuke, what the hell did you do to her!? She won't talk to anyone except you and people around you!? Did you like, crush her spirit or something?" exclaimed Chie.

"Hell no!" Yosuke scowled. "According to her," he jerked a finger at Emiko, "I have something that makes it easy for her to talk more. And that's a good thing considering she never talked to anyone. Now can we move on to other topics? And you—you're totally enjoying this!" Yosuke said threateningly to Souji.

"Of course not. Why ever would I enjoy your pain?" he said, his eyes dancing with mirth.

"You—you traitor!"

Chie yelled some more at Yosuke, Yosuke yelled back. It was getting loud—too loud. Those years of isolating herself had taken a toll on Emiko, and she was never comfortable with too many people yelling. This was Junes, and people everywhere were yelling, and this yelling just made Emiko realize that. At school, she could live with it for a few minutes, and she could always run to the bathroom to calm down. Yelling was also what happened in the ER, all the time—the place where her mother died. Her real mother. So yelling was never her favorite thing.

Emiko pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face down in them. She covered her ears with her hands but they did nothing to block out the noise. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to concentrate and calm down, but it didn't work. She raised her face a bit to see the table still in disarray, no one noticing the position she was in. As she reached out a hand, Souji noticed and looked at her with a concerned look on his face. Emiko caught hold of a corner of Yosuke's sleeve and tugged until he looked at her.

"Yosuke...I can't." she whispered. His face instantly relaxed and any frown he might have had from fighting with Chie slid off his face. He kneeled in front of Emiko and pulled her closer to him so they were only a foot away. Chie had stopped yelling by now and was looking worriedly at Emiko.

"Hey—it's okay. I'm sorry, I forgot you hated loud noises." He said. He put his hands over her hands which were covering her ears. "C'mon, it's okay. You're with friends. You're with me, not anyone who might have bullied you. Think good things. Remember?" When Emiko nodded, he continued. "Cake. Meat. Me paying for the meat. (Emiko giggled at that one) Music. These headphones." He indicated the headphones both he and she were wearing. After Yosuke left with her old ones, she bought the same kind to use. "Puppies, cats, rabbits. Ramen. The roof. Cooking together. Burning things while trying to cook together. Getting poison ivy. Kpop. Your family. Books. Ducks. Birds. Animals. Us. Happy things."

Emiko was slowly breathing slower and her heart beat slower. She nodded. "Yeah. I remember. Thanks, Yosuke." He withdrew his hands from her ears and she did too, unfolding her legs. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. "Sorry. Haven't gotten over that yet, probably never will."

"You shouldn't be sorry about it. You hate loud noises. So what? Everyone has fears. At least you have a cure." Said Yosuke.

"What, calming down?"

"No, me, duh." Said Yosuke, rolling his eyes. Emiko laughed.

"People are seriously going to think we're dating." She said. He shrugged.

"So what? Let them. It doesn't matter what others think. I've been trying to teach you that."

"Hey—are you okay? Emiko-chan?" Chie asked, coming closer with Yukiko.

"You want to go somewhere else?" asked Yukiko. Souji looked down from behind the girls.

"She probably needs to go home." He said.

"Yeah—if you don't mind, I think I'm going to go home." Said Emiko, standing up.

"Course not—we'll talk tomorrow, yeah?" asked Chie. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. I just don't like loud noises and it just got to me for a minute there." Said Emiko.

"I'll take you home—you don't even know where you live." Said Yosuke. "Plus, I'm afraid you'll get lost and end up in some other city."

"Psh, no." said Emiko. "Bye, guys."

* * *

"Seriously, I was this close to running away back there." Said Emiko. "You do know how to calm me down, don't you?"

"I should." Yosuke said, grinning. "Has that happened when I wasn't there?"

"Course, because nothing distracted me from it. I could deal, though." Said Emiko. "Anyway, thanks for bringing me home."

"No prob. Seeya!" Yosuke exclaimed cheerfully, running home.

* * *

"Hey, Kou-kun, Daisuke-kun." Emiko said, sliding into her desk. Kou sat on top of her desk and Daisuke sat next to her.

"Yo. Do anything exciting yesterday?" asked Kou.

Emiko shrugged. "I hung out with Yosuke and his friends at Junes for a while. Not much."

"You could do a club if you really wanted to." Said Kou. "Actually...there aren't many options, and I don't think you would like either."

"What do you two do?" asked Emiko.

"I'm on the basketball team and Daisuke's on the soccer team." Said Kou. "Those teams are only for boys though..."

Emiko's mouth dropped open.

"I'm offended. Not that I think many girls would want to do a sport here, but still! Sports aren't only for guys!" she exclaimed furiously. "I should rebel. Riot! With pitchforks and torches and burn down the school!"

"Never took you for an arsonist, Emiko-chan." Daisuke chuckled. "The school, since it's small, isn't exactly feminist friendly."

"I can see that." Said Emiko. "Behind the times, I guess."

"You got that right. Sometimes I wonder why I even live here." Said Kou gloomily.

"Because your family does." Said Daisuke.

"They wouldn't care if I left. I'm not going to be the head of the family, why should they care?" said Kou sullenly. Daisuke sighed and whispered to Emiko.

"He was adopted because that family wanted an heir to the family, but then they had a daughter, so they don't care what he does anymore. He thinks they don't even care for him as a son anymore." He whispered.

"Well, I don't know the details...and I don't want to overstep my boundaries, but your family would care if you left, I'm sure. They care about you as a son and as a person. Your position in the family doesn't-or shouldn't-matter." Said Emiko softly. As she finished talking, the bell rang, and Kou swung off the desk to sit in his own desk, which Daisuke had abandoned.

"Hey—thanks. Normally when people learn of my situation, they awkwardly switch topics. But not you. So thanks. Really." Kou smiled. Emiko smiled back. Kou and Daisuke were a friendly pair, to be sure-and Emiko quite liked them.

* * *

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Emiko asked, her mouth muffled by her ramen.

"Girl time! We're giving the boys 'boy time' and we wanted to get to know you better." Said Chie, also eating ramen.

"Mmkay. I can live with that." Said Emiko.

"How did you get to be friends with Yosuke? I mean, he's friendly, but sometimes a bit much...and you seem like a quiet person." Asked Yukiko.

"Well, he just started talking to me and he wouldn't stop. He stood up for me too. He made me talk again. I figured it would be better for me to stop running away from him and everyone else and just accept him as a friend. Since I was sorta...unpopular, he lost his other friends though...but then he and I made new friends, because I talked more." Emiko explained.

"So he actually helped you...hm. I was soo gonna lay it on him if he had like, bullied you into only talking around him." Said Chie, mulling it over. Emiko laughed.

"Well, sorry to disappoint. Anyway, how has life been here? Moreso for Yosuke—anything exciting? Any crushes?" Emiko asked mischievously.

"Ha, yes. He made friends with Souji—who's practically a walking enigma—and yes, there is—or was, a crush." Said Chie, her smile dropping.

"He liked Saki Konishi. Maybe you've heard, but..." Yukiko started. Emiko opened her mouth in realization.

"She...was the one who died here." She whispered. "Oh."

Chie nodded. "Apparently, she didn't really like him. I don't think Yosuke's really gotten over her, I mean, she died before anything could happen. He wants to find the murderer and get revenge."

"That...hm. How amazing was Saki-senpai?" asked Emiko curiously.

"I dunno. She was nice to him, I guess. Treated him like a little brother." Said Chie.

"And I guess she was pretty, too."

"Yeah."

"Well. Thanks for updating me. How was your day?"

* * *

"Yosuke...what should I do?" Emiko groaned, laying on her back. Yosuke chuckled.

"What, only a couple of days and you're already bored?" he asked. The two of them were spending some time together on the riverbank, and by spending time together, that meant they were just laying on the grass talking. Yosuke was free since no one was in the TV...but he was starting to feel a little uneasy with all the peace.

"Unfortunately, you were right. There really isn't anything to do here...and it hasn't rained yet." Said Emiko. "Do you still ride that broken bike?"

"It's perfectly fine, thank you very much. Yes, I do ride it. And there's nothing wrong with it. It's a little creaky, but it's not going to...spontaneously combust."

"Nah, I'm leaving the spontaneously combusting to you. It's gonna break one day." Said Emiko, examining her nails.

"And then I can get a motorcycle."

Emiko sat up.

"A—you want a motorcycle? You can't even ride a bike without...I dunno, running into a tree or that one time you actually almost ran over someone..." she started.

"Hey, those problems can be fixed with a much stabler motorcycle. C'mon, you can ride it too! And then we could disturb the peace of Inaba and ride it in the night and be assassins!" Yosuke said animatedly.

"Right. Of course. It's not like I'm sure you haven't disturbed the peace already." Emiko said dryly.

"Actually, I've been bringing peace. Really." Said Yosuke vaguely. Which was true-he had helped bring Yukiko back, hadn't he? That was bringing peace, except he couldn't actually tell Emiko that...

"And when you get a motorcycle, you want to assassinate people..."

"Don't tell me you don't want to at least spy on people."

"Count me in!"

* * *

Later that night, an interviewer was asking Emiko's dad questions about working under a large company, called Atobe Corp. It was supposed to be broadcasted on the local news, and Emiko had to be in at least a small part of it...Emiko's (step)mother had said that she had always wanted to be on TV, and Emiko just had to share this great opportunity.

"...And now we're talking to a few workers to understand more of Atobe Corp, a very strange and mysterious, but very successful, company. Suzuki-san, how has it been getting a new job under Atobe Corp?" asked the interviewer.

"Oh, well, it..."

Emiko zoned out. Why she had to be here, she didn't really know. She could be doing much more interesting things with her time. Like...like...like reading manga. Or something.

"And now a word from the family...do you have any relation to the Atobe Corp other than your husband working there?"

"I've met some coworkers over business dinners, but not frequently as we live in a different city." Said Emiko's mom, smiling. The microphone was passed to Emiko.

"And you, Emiko-san. Surely you must have some input in this, with your dad working for them and all. After all, you are old enough to have your own opinions about the corporation."

Emiko slowly turned her head to the camera and stared at it blankly. Was she supposed to say something? She'd forgotten what they had asked.

"Right, uh, opinions. Well, they're, um, very elusive, the bosses. Makes one wonder about conspiracies, but," she said hastily, catching a look from her mother, "of course that's not happening. I haven't seen much of them, to be honest."

"Of course, Now, on to the next part..."

"Speak louder." Her mother hissed, nudging Emiko. Of course, that had always been a problem. At least she was speaking now.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, it was raining. Emiko should have been happy, but she instead felt tired and drained. She didn't even know if she would be able to stay up to watch the Midnight Channel that night. Maybe it was the interview the day before, but this rainy day made her unusually drowsy.

"Hey, Emiko-chan!" exclaimed Chie in a chipper voice.

"Hey." She said dully. Chie peered at her.

"You okay?"

"Sorry. Rainy days don't normally make me like this, but today, my mood is down." Said Emiko.

"Well, I saw a bit of you on TV last night. I didn't see the whole interview, but I saw your face." Said Chie.

"I'm such a TV presence, aren't I?" asked Emiko, trying to uplift her spirits. Didn't work.

Chie laughed. "Of course, yeah. You were the best part of the interview, no objections there."

"Heh. Thanks."

* * *

"I haven't seen much of Emiko-chan today. Is she okay?" asked Yukiko, worried.

"She's fine; I saw her this morning. She said she was just really tired." Said Chie.

"Tired? On a rainy day? Usually, that wakes her up, not shuts her down..." said Yosuke, frowning. "Somehow, I get a really bad feeling about today..."

* * *

Yosuke paced in front of his TV, waiting for the clock to strike midnight. It had been like this a month or two ago, just waiting...and waiting...and waiting...and waiting. Seconds, minutes, hours...time, just passing aimlessly. He flopped in front of the TV on the floor a couple of minutes to midnight, briefly hoping Emiko got home okay before the heavy rain. She was already bad at directions, and trying to find her way in bad weather just made it worse. He had toyed with the idea of calling her, but chances were, she probably wouldn't answer if she were tired. Suddenly, the familiar sound of static started, and Yosuke faced the TV. A figure appeared. It was blurry and only showed a small, unrecognizable shape. It seemed to be a girl, though. Someone with short hair, and she looked like Yosuke's age, so a high schooler. He flipped open his phone to call Souji.

"Hey, did you see that?" he asked. "It looked like a girl. She looks sorta...familiar to me."

"_Really? I think I've seen her before, but I don't think I actually know her...anyway, we should meet up tomorrow at Junes." _

"Yeah, good idea. See you tomorrow." Said Yosuke, hanging up. So it had started again...

* * *

"So according to what we all saw on the TV last night, the victim...is a girl. Which does fit the pattern that they're all female." Chie announced. Yosuke deadpanned.

"That's...exactly what we just said."

The group was meeting at Junes to discuss the figure on the TV the previous night.

"Well, sooorry I wanted to make it official!" Chie scowled. "Y'think we should ask Teddie if anyone is in the TV yet?"

Souji nodded. "That seems like a good idea."

The group trooped to the normal TV in the electronic department and waited until the customers were out of sight. Chie, Yukiko, and Yosuke made a wall around Souji as he put his hand into the TV.

"I swear, if that bear bites you again..." said Yosuke. A second later, Souji retracted his hand from the TV with bite marks. "Damn that Teddie!"

"Ooh~is this a game? Is this 'scoring'?" Teddie's voice floated from the TV.

"No, you idiot! We wanted to ask if anyone was in the TV yet. A girl." Hissed Yosuke.

"Hmm...no, just Teddie. I'm so beary alone in here..." he whined from the TV.

"Well, I guess that means she's safe for now. Thanks Ted." Said Chie as the group dispersed and headed down to the main floor.

"We should keep an eye out for anyone who looks like that girl. And keep watching the Midnight Channel." Said Yukiko.

"Yeah. It's supposed to rain again tonight." Said Chie. "Also, has anyone seen Emiko today? I was going to go get croquettes with her later...but I haven't seen her at school."

"Ah, I think she didn't come to school today. Maybe she's sick?" said Yukiko.

"Emiko never misses school unless she's really, really sick. She hates missing school for 'stupid reasons'." Said Yosuke, frowning. "I'm starting to feel unusually uneasy..."

* * *

Yosuke watched the Midnight Channel in his room, alleviating some of his boredom by watching the raindrops race across the window, giving some of them names and betting on which one will reach the bottom of the window first. Lame, but it was perfectly acceptable in this time of extreme boredom. Finally, the Midnight Channel started, and it showed a grassy area...a park? A person appeared on the screen, clearer than before, and Yosuke tripped backwards, almost cracking his neck on the table when he saw who it was.

Emiko?!

No. No way. He didn't want her to get involved in this.

_"Welcome to my park, where I'm free to forget all responsibilities and play all I want! I can be a kid again, just waiting for someone to take all the responsibility and I won't worry again. Come and play with me!" _ The (Shadow) Emiko ran off into the distance through a large gate. The TV screen died out and Yosuke scrambled to get his phone, his hand shaking as he dialed Souji.

"Shit, oh, shit, I gotta call him..."

_"Yosuke?" _

"Souji, we're going in tomorrow."

"_I understand that, but we need more stuff and we need to prepare too. Don't go rushing into things, or you won't be able to help Emiko-chan that way."_

He was right. Yosuke squeezed his eyes shut and took a few deep breaths.

"Right. But why her? What had she done? I just—she can't-I won't-ah, never mind, I'll just see you tomorrow." Yosuke sighed as he hung up. Why her? Why...it was Emiko! Yosuke had tried to keep her out of it, but now...

His eyes burned with a new resolve. There was no way, _no absolute fucking way, _ that he would lose another person he cared deeply about. He had lost Saki-senpai to her Shadow. He would not lose Emiko too.

* * *

Emiko woke up, her joints aching. She was sure she had acquired a few bruises, and she wouldn't be surprised if she found a couple of scratches she didn't have before. Where was she...?

Emiko stood up, taking in her surroundings. Everything was foggy, and honestly, it was starting to give her a headache. What had happened to her? She remembered passing out, and a falling sensation. Chloroform?

Anyway, she needed to decide the best course of action right now. There didn't seem to be an exit to...what was this place, anyway? A park? It was actually somewhat familiar...it looked a lot like a park in Tokyo that she used to visit when she wanted to be alone. Emiko tried to take a step forward, but apparently she was weaker than she though, because as soon as she lifted her foot, she felt her energy draining from her and fell on the ground. She felt something appearing in front of her. As soon as it materialized, she heard footsteps coming from the right, and Souji, Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, and some large stuffed bear appeared. Emiko stared at them for a minute before looking back at...herself. More like a creepy version of herself, as this one's eyes were yellow and it was emitting a purple glow.

"What the fuck." Emiko uttered, feeling completely at a loss as to what was happening. "I mean, seriously, why does this thing look like me."

_"Maybe that's because I am you." _Said the thing. _"I know everything about you, all your secrets, your thoughts, your regrets, your hates..." _

"Emiko, don't listen to it!" Yosuke yelled, but his voice seemed to come from a far away place.

Emiko frowned.

"What does that mean? There's only one of me in the universe unless we're talking about parallel worlds here. Which we aren't, because there's no place like this in any universe. And we can't travel from parallel worlds to another unless there's a breach. Doctor Who knowledge." She said.

The (Shadow) Emiko grinned.

_"I already know all that stuff about Doctor Who, because, like I said, I am you. I know that your so called 'mother' isn't actually your mother. She's your step mother."_

Emiko froze. How—how could anyone know that? She hadn't even told Yosuke, who was looking at Emiko with surprise.

Shadow Emiko laughed. "_You didn't tell anyone your real mother died of illness? Which, by the way, you helped along. You could have healed her." _

__ Emiko shrunk back, clapping her hands over her ears.

"No...stop, please..." she almost whispered.

_"This is your mind, dearie, let it all out. You never tell anyone your secrets anyway. Look at you, so alone. Always alone. Bullied, beaten up. Suicidal. When Yosuke came along, he never really realized how far into depression you were. You said you were fine, you said you talked more, you made more friends when you came here because you didn't want to be lonely again. But you never stopped being depressed."_

"No, that's not true!" Emiko shrieked.

"_Then why don't you explain why you don't like short sleeved shirts? Pull back your sleeve right now and let's see how recent those scars are." _Said Shadow Emiko, leering at the real Emiko. _"Go on, do it." _

"Stop it! This isn't true! Don't look at me!" Emiko exclaimed, shaking her head furiously, a few tears escaping her eyes.

_"Go on, say it..." _

"You're not me and never were!"

Shadow Emiko laughed and grew larger. Emiko slumped to the ground, exhausted.

"Shit! It's awakened!" Chie exclaimed.

_"I am a Shadow, the true self...and I will destroy anything that gets in my way! I'm too far gone to be stopped now!" _

Souji nodded and the group rushed over to fight the Shadow. Yosuke glanced over anxiously at Emiko.

"_Hang on, Emiko..." _

* * *

As the group called their Personas to launch a final attack onto the Shadow, Emiko woke up blearily.

"Did it...did it transform into that?" she asked nobody in particular, staring at her Shadow. She watched as Souji's Persona called lightning to her Shadow, defeating it in a cloud of dust. The group ran over to Emiko, who had sat up by now.

"That's not...I'm not..." Emiko started as she rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing things properly.

"It's okay. You don't have to hide anything, because we'll accept you as you are." Said Souji softly. Emiko looked at him, not really understanding the situation, but understanding that she wouldn't be alone anymore; that someone wouldn't judge her. She nodded and walked over to her Shadow, ignoring the pain in her legs.

"I think I understand now. I never wanted to acknowledge all these feelings, that I was so weak, but that's how you were created, because I didn't accept it. And...I guess you were right. I am lonely. I have—had no one. I never told anyone anything, and I told myself after I had Yosuke, I was okay, and cutting was just a habit. I didn't believe that I was depressed. But you're right. I just needed to open my eyes and accept what was right in front of me. I need to accept my weakness. And let others help me, because...I'm not alone anymore. Thank you for helping me understand that." Said Emiko, smiling at her other self. The Shadow nodded, and disappeared in a cloud of blue light. A card appeared, floating down to Emiko, and seemed to melt within her, filling her with warmth. She stared at herself with wonder.

"This is what you guys had..." she murmured, before crumpling to the ground. Yosuke caught her before her head hit the ground.

"Emiko!"

"After you explain everything, Yosuke, I want to go to Aiya's..." whispered Emiko just as her eyes closed. He chuckled, relieved. After all this, all she thinks about is food. Actually...thinking about that, if someone had been thrown into the TV about a week, they would have gone a week without food and water, which would actually kind of suck. Maybe that's why they pass out.

* * *

"I'm glad she's okay." Said Yukiko as the group emerged in the electronic department of Junes.

"Me too. What are you going to tell her parents, Yosuke?" asked Chie.

"I dunno. She's been gone for what, a couple of days? I can just say she needed a break and went to Yukiko's place or something, because they definitely wouldn't approve if I said she went to mine." Said Yosuke, shrugging. "I'll see ya tomorrow." He walked off, piggybacking Emiko.

"We'll explain it to her at school when she comes back." Said Souji. "I'll see you tomorrow." He walked off to the exit. Chie turned to Yukiko.

"I know we're too tired today, but wanna hang out tomorrow?" she asked. Yukiko nodded, smiling.

"I'd like that."

* * *

"So, she...went to the Amagi Inn, because her friend, Yukiko, was there. And this Yukiko was the one who was missing. And she never mentioned her." Said Emiko's (step)mother, her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Said Yosuke, nodding. Emiko's mother looked at him, clearly not buying it.

"But she didn't go to your house for sure."

"Positive."

Emiko's mom sighed. "All right. As long as she's all right." She waved a hand at her staircase. "Her room is up there, it won't be hard to find; third door on the left."

Yosuke nodded and shifted Emiko on his back before going to the stairs.

"Yosuke, hear me out for a second." He turned to face her mother. "Look, I know we never approved of your friendship, just because of my husband and your father. But it made Emiko happy, and she started talking more. And I should thank you for that. The only reason she was okay with moving was you, you know. She missed you more than you could ever imagine. And, honestly, you're not a bad person. I think I like you, to be her friend. So thank you. For doing all that you've done for Emiko, and I can see you plan to keep taking care of her. So please, do for her what I could never do as her stepmother; be the one she can count on."

* * *

Yosuke dropped Emiko in her bed and covered her with the blankets. He straightened up, stretching his back and popping a few aches. He looked at Emiko's sleeping form.

"I never realized what I really was to you, and how much my leaving would make an impact on you. And then I just forgot about you when I got here, to chase after Saki-senpai and now this Midnight Channel...so I'm sorry, Emiko. But I'll be with you now." He said quietly. "And yes, I will take you to Aiya's."

"You'd better." Said Emiko sleepily. "I feel really tired."

Yosuke laughed. "I would think so. Just sleep until you feel better. Forget about school for a couple of days. You've been through a lot."

"Mm. And Yosuke, it's okay. I had depended on you bringing me out of my shell for so long, I had forgotten that without you, I was back to being the old me. And I shouldn't. I needed to learn to survive on my own. Not relying on you completely, but just with you to support me, I would learn. So I will. So don't worry too much." Said Emiko, inhaling deeply before falling asleep again. Yosuke chuckled and ruffled her hair.

"I bet you will. You sorta have already."

* * *

**A/N: So here's the next chapter! I hope you like it so far! **

**And I made a discovery (sort of) while writing this chapter: the people in the TV go weeks without food and water...which really sucks. Especially in my first playthrough, when I literally waited until the last two days to save Kanji and Yukiko. Bad decision. Don't do that. **

**So yeah! Please follow and favorite this story if you like it! **

**And a preview of the next chapter...**

_"I henceforth ban you from sitting on this desk, Sir Daisuke the...uh, Fourth." He said, pretending Daisuke was a knight._

_"The fourth? I should be the first!" Daisuke scowled, outraged. He hopped off Kou's desk and sat on Emiko's. "Well, Queen Emiko, will you let me sit on yours?"_

Emiko laughed. "Of course, Sir Daisuke the First. What will you do for me in return?"

"I will, uh, explore uncharted lands full of riches and name the land after you! I'll also give you 50% of the profit." Daisuke said, grinning.

**And don't forget to review! Reviews make me happy and I'll update faster if there are more reviews! :D I'll give you all virtual cookies! **


	3. Chapter 3

A couple of weeks later, Emiko was back at school. She hadn't talked to the group yet as she had gotten there late (She thought it was Sunday, so she got up late) so she just went to class.

"Hey, Emiko-chan!" Kou called, waving her over. Emiko sat down next to him.

"You're a new student, and you're skipping already? Damn." Said Daisuke, grinning.

"I didn't mean to, I just got sick." Emiko protested.

"With what?" asked Kou.

"Uh...the flu? At least, I think it was." Emiko said hurriedly.

"Well, I'm glad you're back now. Without a girl around us, this guy," Kou said, indicating Daisuke, "Was just gross." Daisuke punched Kou on the shoulder.

"You're gross too, y'know." He retaliated. Kou shot him a look and pushed him off his desk.

"I henceforth ban you from sitting on this desk, Sir Daisuke the...uh, Fourth." He said, pretending Daisuke was a knight.

"The fourth? I should be the first!" Daisuke scowled, outraged. He hopped off Kou's desk and sat on Emiko's. "Well, Queen Emiko, will you let me sit on yours?"

Emiko laughed. "Of course, Sir Daisuke the First. What will you do for me in return?"

"I will, uh, explore uncharted lands full of riches and name the land after you! I'll also give you 50% of the profit." Daisuke said, grinning. Emiko nodded mock seriously.

"I would be pleased with that profit. King Kou the First over here should get none of it." She said. Kou scoffed.

"King Kou needs 55%, Queen Emiko gets 40%, and Sir Daisuke the First deserves only 5%."

"Excuse me, I explored the lands. And besides, I'm not naming them after _you._ Land of Kou. That's a stupid name." said Daisuke, making a face.

"Hmph. I de-knight you. Return to the horse stalls and clean out their poop. Menial, gross tasks for a menial, gross worker." Said Kou pushing Daisuke away. He laughed and ran back to his desk as the teacher walked in. Emiko high fived Kou.

"Nice. Now we get to split 50-50."

* * *

"So. Would someone like to explain to me what happened while I eat my lunch?" question Emiko as she opened her bowl of ramen. The group was sitting on the roof, eating lunch and explaining to Emiko what had happened.

"You know about Mayumi Yamano and Saki-senpai? They were thrown into the TV and were killed by their other selves, their Shadows." Said Souji.

"You mean the thing that looked like me, that was what killed them?" asked Emiko. Souji nodded.

"The Shadows only kill them when it gets foggy...I forgot if that meant foggy here, or foggy there..." Chie muttered. She shrugged. "Whatever. So we don't know why the person is throwing them in, or how, or the pattern, but it seems to be females with some connection to Mayumi Yamano. Yukiko was the last person to be thrown in."

"That's why you weren't at school for a while. And as for the connection, I am female, and I think my mom had contacted Mayumi Yamano for something." Emiko realized.

Yukiko nodded. "The place where each person is is different. Mine was a castle, and it had something to do with the 'show' on the Midnight Channel, and with my Shadow. Yours was a park."

"So this Shadow thing wants us to deny everything it says and then it'll transform into something much more powerful." Said Emiko, trying to organize her thoughts.

"Mm hm. And then we use our Personas; which are technically our Shadows, they're two sides of the same coin; to fight the Shadows." Said Yosuke. "We all faced our Shadows, except Souji. We don't really know how he got the power. But now we can enter TVs."

Emiko nodded slowly.

"So you're trying to save everyone who goes into the TV."

"Pretty much, yeah. And figure out who put them in there."

"Cool. Can I help?"

"Sure."

* * *

"So." Emiko started. Souji raised his eyebrows.

"So." He said. Emiko teetered back and forth on the balls of her feet for a few seconds.

"I think we need to talk. I've talked to everyone else, but not to you." She said. Chie and Yosuke had gone to get (read: steal) more food from people downstairs, and Yukiko had gone back to her classroom to study for the test she had forgotten was that day.

"Okay. What about?"

"Well, tell me about your life. I only know you came from the city a couple of months back because of your parents' jobs." Said Emiko, shrugging. "But that doesn't tell me about you."

Souji sighed. "My life wasn't really that interesting before I came here. It was just normal. Nothing like this."

"Obviously. But I can see you're doing a really good job of leading them—well, us, now." Emiko said, smiling. "Fine, you don't want to tell me about how boring your life was."

"Tell me about yours, then."

Emiko laughed. "Are you trying to find my problems and help fix them?"

Souji flashed her a crooked smile. "That's me. Always the helper."

"Just the helper...?" Emiko mused. She shook her head. "Never mind. My life wasn't that exciting either. I mean, I was a quiet person, and I had few friends. There were some fun times, but I'm sure everyone has a few fun times."

"It was pretty much, stagnant, huh?"

"Mm." Emiko sighed. "I really don't want to seem like a horrible person, but this is the most action filled part of my life."

"It's like that for all of us. We may have lived a life before, but we weren't _alive." _Said Souji.

"Well, just because you're breathing doesn't necessarily mean you're alive, persay." She said. "I should go back down now; you should too, actually, class is starting soon."

"Yeah." Said Souji as he got up and dusted himself off. He held out a hand to Emiko to help pull her up. "You know, that has got to be the most thought provoking conversation I've had since I came here."

Emiko grinned. "Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko aren't much for talking about life lessons, then?"

Souji laughed. "You tell me." He frowned. "We've got to get you accustomed to fighting in the TV world soon. You're going to have to kill things, you know."

Emiko nodded. "Well, I won't do anything else bad; no maiming or torturing! And I'm going to only kill for a good reason, unlike them who kill for no reason. They may be stronger, but the moral high ground is mine!"

"We're going to have an interesting time with that one."

"Hey! Don't talk about me in third person. I'm still here, y'know." Emiko scowled. Then she ran off the roof to her classroom. Ah, fun times. (For those of you who are interested, if this were actually the video game, this would be rank 1.)

* * *

"Right, so I throw it...like this?" Emiko mimicked throwing the stick she was holding. Chie nodded.

"Yup! Go ahead, try it again!" she exclaimed. Emiko threw the stick and it whizzed just past the tree. Emiko sighed.

"Practice makes perfect, I guess. And hopefully, Shadows would be bigger than a tree trunk." She said. Emiko had asked Chie to help her learn to fight. She hadn't really figured out what she was going to fight with, but she had always wanted to use knives...throwing knives. Since they didn't have any with them, they were using sticks to act as knives.

"You'll get it! At least, I think. I don't even know if I'm helping..." said Chie. "I just use my own body to fight. Easier than trying to use an object."

"Well, I'm not exactly strong." Said Emiko, gesturing to her legs, which were lacking a lot of muscle. She picked up another stick and positioned herself.

"How are you not burning up?!" exclaimed Chie before taking a long swig of water. Emiko was still wearing a jacket, and it was an unusually hot day. There were no clouds in sight, just the sun beating down on them.

Emiko shrugged. "Used to always keeping a jacket on. I feel more comfortable with one, and...well, what the Shadow said."

"Since the Shadow, you haven't been...?" Chie started. When Emiko shook her head, she sighed in relief. "Good, cause your body isn't there to take the brunt of everything else going on."

"That's one way to put it." Emiko grunted as she threw the stick at the tree again. It hit the tree about a foot below where she had aimed it. Emiko threw her head back to the sky and squinted at the sun. "When is it going to rain next?"

Chie shrugged. "Dunno. Hopefully not soon, because yours was just a little while ago."

Emiko hummed happily. "Yeah."

* * *

"We need to talk."

Emiko raised her eyebrows. "Ooh, that doesn't sound good. What's up?"

"You lied to me."

Emiko sighed and patted the seat next to her. "About what, Yosuke, my stepmother, or my depression?"

"Well, both, but I'm not angry about not telling me your mother died. That's understandable. But you told me you were fine back then." Said Yosuke as she sat down next to her.

"When someone says they're 'okay', that doesn't mean they're actually okay. I told myself I was okay. But I obviously wasn't." said Emiko.

Yosuke scowled. "Still, you could have told me you were depressed. I could have helped."

"With what? Were you going to live at my house and hide all the knives? Force a smile on my face when I thought about my mother and other sad things?" Emiko said, raising her voice. "I was depressed, clinically depressed, Yosuke. Nothing would have helped me."

"You don't know unless you try, and you didn't try."

"So I lied to you. I know you're a happy, cheerful person, and I wasn't. You had already lost your friends because of me. I wasn't going to burden you with my depression. You were a light, sure, but when the light is surrounded by too much darkness, it goes out. I was protecting that light, because that light could sometimes make me happy. I didn't want to lose it." Emiko said.

Yosuke looked at her hand on the table. He looked up suddenly.

"Show me."

Emiko frowned. "What?"

"Show me your arm."

Emiko clutched her right arm tightly. "No."

"I never helped you. I want to know what you went through by yourself." Yosuke said, his eyes hardening. Emiko pressed her lips together. If she showed him, wouldn't that mean she was accepting what her Shadow said? When she faced her Shadow, she said she wasn't alone any more. And that meant sharing her troubles with others. With that thought in mind, she drew her left arm from her right, and pulled back her sleeve.

Yosuke held her arm gently as he looked at the numerous marks on her arm. Some were old, and were just white to serve as a reminder. But there were recent scars that were an angry pink. He closed his eyes as he realized how much blood that was. How her arm must have looked as she was cutting.

"How long?" Yosuke whispered.

"A couple of years before I met you."

"You should have told me." Yosuke said, regretfully. "I feel like a horrible friend for not realizing it."

"I'm just too good at hiding myself, I guess." Emiko laughed bitterly as she pulled her sleeve back over her arm. "Until you convinced me to cut my hair."

"I call that an accomplishment."

Emiko smiled. "Yeah. Thanks, Yosuke."

* * *

"Are you okay, Emiko?"

Emiko stopped halfway up the stairs. Normally, whenever she got home from school, her stepmother would give her a cursory glance and a "Welcome home" and occasional "How was your day?" She had never really talked to her. So why was she talking to her now?

Granted, that might have been Emiko's fault. After her father had remarried, Emiko was determined to not talk to her stepmother. She was still upset about the death of her mother. Her stepmother had been kind to her, and had tried to talk to her—had honestly tried to connect with her stepdaughter. Emiko hadn't let her. She always pushed away her attempts to talk, and her stepmother had just given up. Emiko hadn't really felt bad about it—until now, when she realized she might have just taken her stepmother's care for granted.

"Why?" Emiko asked suspiciously. Her stepmother sighed.

"Because you went missing and then you came home sick and tired. I was wondering if you were okay." She said. Emiko nodded slowly.

In light of everything that happened, she probably wasn't okay. She had faced her darkest fears and her secrets had been revealed to other people—so no, she wasn't exactly spectacular. But she had realized that she wasn't alone anymore. She had a Persona now. She was going to open up more. She had done so with Kou and Daisuke. Maybe...it was finally time to actually talk to her stepmother.

"I'm fine. Really." Emiko said. She hesitated. "Maybe...maybe later, we could...do something? Together?"

Emiko's stepmother looked surprised.

"...Yes. I would like that." She said, shooting her a gratified smile.

* * *

"So how do you think Emiko-chan's doing?" Chie asked thoughtfully, watching Emiko walk down the hallway. "I mean, after her secrets were sort of..."

"She seems better. I think she's trying to get closer to her stepmother. Stepmother. That is so weird." Yosuke frowned.

"Why, just because you didn't know her as such?" Yukiko asked.

"She does seem to be friends with Kou and Daisuke." Souji supplied, indicating the two running towards Emiko from behind. They jumped her and she screamed before realizing it was them. She punched them playfully before they looped their arms around her.

Yosuke immediately stared at them. "What? Really? They'd better not do anything. Hey, Kou, move your hand! And those two—"

"You're just like a mother hen." Chie said teasingly. "She'd better not even date anyone till she turns 30."

"I'm just protective because of who she is and what she's like."

"I was joking, Yosuke." Chie rolled her eyes. "Jeez, get a grip."

* * *

"You have got to be _fucking _kidding me." Emiko uttered.

Yosuke raised his hands in self defense. "Hey, don't blame the bringer of bad news. Midterms are coming, whether you like it or not."

"But I _just transferred here._ And I got thrown in a TV. They could give me a little down time." Emiko complained.

"Yeah, like you could tell them _that. _'Oh hey, sorry, but I just had to face my darkest secrets and got a Persona, I can't take midterms!'" Chie mimicked.

Emiko groaned. "I actually need to study then."

"I can't even. I don't know anything. I am so screwed." Chie thumped her head on the table. Yukiko patted her back comfortedly.

"You think you have problems? If I don't do well, my dad's gonna give me so many more shifts at Junes." Yosuke said unhappily.

"We can study together, if it helps?" Yukiko questioned. Emiko nodded.

"Sounds good. I can rely on help if I need it—which I will." She looked at Souji. The rest of the table also looked at Souji.

"Why are you all looking at me?" he asked.

"Because you're smart. Help us!" Chie exclaimed. He smiled.

"Fine."

"Maybe I won't fail..." Emiko sighed.

* * *

After exams...

Emiko had gone to Class 2-2 to talk to the group after the last exam. She arrived just in time to hear Chie ask about the tallest mountain in the solar system.

"Olympus Mons." Said Souji.

"Oh, seriously? I chose the wrong one..." Chie said glumly.

"Oh, I put that one too." Said Yukiko.

"I got that too!" Emiko exclaimed delightedly.

"You too? Then it's probably the right answer..." said Yosuke, sighing. "Boy, I can't wait for our grades to be posted in the hall where everyone can see 'em. Oh well..."

The group was quiet for a moment, listening to the conversations taking place all around them.

"Hey, did you hear? A TV station is filming in town." Said a student.

"They're probably doing more stuff about that hanging corpse case." Said another student.

"No, it's not that. You know the highway nearby? They're gonna cover those biker gangs that hand around there."

"Well, anyways… Whaddya think about tomorrow's group blind date? We were gonna meet outside, but…it's gonna rain soon, right? Won't it be better to play it safe tomorrow too?" The conversation moved on.

"Biker gang?" Yukiko asked.

"Oh yeah, they raise a ruckus from time to time." Said Chie. "I guess your place is too far away to hear them."

"We live right by the road. The noise can drive you insane." Said Yosuke. Emiko nodded in agreement.

"They make it a point to drive by our street every night, I swear." She said.

"I hear some guys at this school are part of it too." Said Chie.

"Yeah, I know there are some rumors about a first-year student here who's a total hellraiser. One of the guys working at Junes said the dude's been a legend ever since middle school. Although... Was he in a biker gang…?" Yosuke said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"A-a legend?" asked Yukiko.

"Uh, it's not what you think, Yukiko..." said Chie hurriedly. Emiko frowned. Exactly what did she think? Whatever.

"Anyway, I gotta go. I promised my mom I would go somewhere with her today." Said Emiko, walking away. "See ya!"

* * *

**A/N: Hey! So Temperance is back, and get ready for Kanji fun time next chapter! :D  
Also, this story is technically based off of P4 from the PS2, but some scenes from P4 Golden are going to be in here, like the beach trip and the ski trip. I'll add them in somewhere.  
In this chapter, I touched on a somewhat iffy subject...(cutting) and I just wanted to say that I hope no one cuts because there's always something to smile about in life. So basically, if anyone wants to talk (and I'm off the subject of cutting specifically now...) about anything, just message me! We can fangirl or talk about life! Whichever you want. ^^  
It's spring now! (where I live) Hope everyone has a great season! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

"So, Emiko. How's school? Made any friends?" Emiko's father asked as the family ate dinner while watching TV. Emiko raised an eyebrow. She had started school a few weeks ago...it was a little late to be asking how she's fitting in. Emiko's mother gave her a look and a little jerk of the head to answer.

"Fine. I'm really lucky I'm not in Morooka's class. And yes, I have friends; Yosuke, remember?" Emiko said. Her father looked at her. She stared back defiantly. She could choose who she wanted to be friends with.

"Other than him."

"His friends. And two other guys he knows. I don't see anything wrong with being friends with him. He's not your enemy, he's a whole other person." Emiko said.

"...All right, Emiko, we won't talk about that for now." Her father sighed. Emiko silently turned back to the TV just as a new special about biker gangs was coming on.

"Young men recklessly driving their motorcycles, disturbing the peace of a quite rural town..." the announcer said.

"The hell are you punks doin' here?" a voice exclaimed. Emiko snorted. Those TV producers really had crappy blurring. It was obvious what the guy looked like. Emiko's father gave a start.

"Do you know him?" Emiko's mother asked. He shook his head.

"Not really. I just had a deal with his mother, from Tatsumi Textiles. That's Kanji Tatsumi. She told me he was a good kid..."

"This ain't a show! Get bent!" Kanji Tatsumi yelled at the camera. Emiko shuddered. Man, he was scary. She wouldn't want to meet him in an alley on a dark and stormy night...

* * *

The next day, it started raining. Class was like always, just hours of listening to lectures and taking notes. Emiko also had to occasionally answer questions too. But seriously, it seemed like the teachers were always picking on her because she was a city girl. They didn't try to hide that fact either. They were always like, "Because she's from the city!" Not that being from the city made any difference. She still couldn't answer that many questions.

Right after class ended, Emiko ran across the hall to Class 2-2. She understood why she had to move there, as she was one person and there were already 4 people there. Though, Class 2-1 was right there...would it really hurt to meet up there instead for one day?

"It started raining...I guess the weather report was right." Chie said, looking out the window as Emiko skidded into the classroom.

"That means the show's probably going to be on tonight." Yosuke said.

"I hope we don't see anyone..." Yukiko frowned.

"Yeah, that'd be best. Though if we do, maybe we'll see some kinda clue that'll point us toward the killer..." Yosuke trailed off.

"Well, don't forget to check your TV tonight, everyone!" Chie exclaimed, having returned from the window. She then turned to Yukiko.

"How did you do that essay for history?"

"I just summarized what was in my notes..." Yukiko replied.

"Was that what we were supposed to do? I just...I dunno." Chie groaned. "I'm gonna fail."

"Damn that essay. I just wrote a half assed thing..." Emiko winced. "We'll fail together."

"Essay...?" Yosuke wondered out loud. "...I didn't even do it."

* * *

That night, it was still raining, so Emiko decided to watch the Midnight Channel. She was currently lying upside down on her bed, facing the TV. She had actually tried to amuse herself by working out...which only worked for a little while. She tried to do sit ups on her bed, but she got bored.

"I need to have stuff to do before the Midnight Channel..." Emiko groaned. She glanced towards the bag on the other side of the room. It held a knife. Before, she had used it to cut. Now, though, she hadn't used it for a month. She didn't know what to do with it now...obviously, she couldn't put it in the kitchen, and she didn't want to keep it in her room either...and if she threw it away, her mom would see and get suspicious. Finally, it was 12:00, and the familiar static came on the TV. Emiko sat up to look at the figure that had appeared on the screen.

It seemed to be a boy, and he was doing somewhat...violent motions?

"Was that what I looked like when I was on...?" Emiko wondered.

He also looked like a high schooler. After about a minute, the image disappeared and the room was dark and quiet again.

"I guess we should meet up tomorrow to talk about it." Emiko said to herself as she got into bed. "Mmkay. I get to use my Persona soon, too..."

* * *

-  
The next day after school, the group had met up at Junes to discuss the Midnight Channel.

"Ahem, we will now hold a meeting on our investigation of the serial kidnapping-slash-murder case here in Inaba." Yosuke said, standing up.

"Dude, take a breath!" Chie rolled her eyes and high fived Emiko under the table.

"Oh, then does this make this place our special headquarters?" Yukiko asked.

"Yes! Exactly! Nicely put, Yukiko." Yosuke sounded happy someone was excited.

"Special Headquarters..." Emiko mumbled. "It does have a nice ring to it..."

"Anyways, as for what was on last night..." Yosuke started the meeting.

"I wonder who it was." Souji mused.

"I saw it too!" Chie exclaimed. "I couldn't get a good look at the person's face, but it seemed like a guy, didn't it?"

"From what I saw, he looked like a high schooler." Souji added.

"So that's how I looked on TV..." Emiko winced. From what she had heard from Yukiko, later on, there was an embarrassing...show.

"Hm? Wait a moment." Yukiko interrupted. "Didn't the victims all have one thing in common? That they were females with ties to the first incident?"

"That's what we thought...but we still don't know exactly who it was that we saw." Yosuke said.

"In my case and Emiko-chan's, the image on the Midnight Channel changed after we got kidnapped, right?"

"Yeah, the screen got all clear all of a sudden and it looked like some low-budget TV show." Yosuke agreed. "Come to think of it, maybe Teddie was right. Maybe we were seeing the other Yukiko and other Emiko from that world."

"But last night, we couldn't clearly see whoever it was. Could that mean...he isn't inside the TV yet?" Emiko asked.

"In that case, then..." Chie trailed off.

"He's still safe for now." Souji confirmed.

"Uh huh, I think that's safe to assume." Yukiko nodded. "If we figure out who he is, can we prevent him from being taken?"

"Yeah...and if all goes well, we might catch the killer in the bargain." Yosuke sighed. "But to do that, we need to know who the latest Midnight Channel star is. I hate to say it, but it looks like we'll need to wait another night to see what happens."

"Ahem, well that means if my deductions are correct...though the image was hard to make out, and we can't say for sure who it was, it was definitely a young male. But if that's the case, it goes completely against our prior assumptions. Since we cannot identify the person at this time, we have no choice but to wait and see what happens!" Chie exclaimed triumphantly, looking a trifle smug that she had recapitulated all that had happened.

"That's...exactly what we just said." Yosuke sweatdropped.

"Shuddup..." Chie glowered at him.

Yukiko giggled. Then, it turned into a full blown strange laugh. "You're so funny, Chie! No, my funny bone!"

Emiko stared at her, awed. Who knew the polished Amagi girl could laugh like this?

"Not again..." Chie sighed.

"Ahahaha, s-sorry!" Yukiko tried to apologize.

"This is how Yukiko really is...who woulda though?" Emiko mused.

"By the way, about that guy we saw, I get the feeling I've seen him before. And recently, too." Chie said, ignoring Yukiko.

"Oh, you too? Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing since last night. Well, let's check the TV again tonight and think about it more tomorrow." Yosuke said, looking around at the rest of the group.

"Heehee..." Yukiko's laughs hadn't subsided just yet.

"When are you going to stop that, you crazy hyena?!" Chie just about growled at her.

"Ahahaha, that's a good one, Chie!" Yukiko laughed.

* * *

-  
That night, it was raining again, so in six different houses in Inaba, six teenagers sat in front of a TV.

"Emiko! Are you still awake?" Her mother yelled up the stairs. Emiko stilled. Dammit, she knew they had noticed she had stayed up last night.

"Uh...no! No way, I am perfectly asleep! Nothing can wake me up!" Emiko called back, then clapped a hand over her mouth as she realized how dumb it was to reply.

"Just sleep soon!" Her exasperated mother called back. Emiko nodded before she realized her mother couldn't see her. Minutes later, the Midnight Channel appeared and showed the same high schooler. Emiko went up close to the TV and squinted.

"Actually, that's the guy on the news! Tatsumi!" She exclaimed.

"Emiko, go to bed!" She heard her father yell from his room. Whoops. She didn't realize she was that loud.

* * *

(EXTRA- actually, it's not extra, since it did actually happen in the game, but this time, Emiko is added. And I made Souji talk more.)

"Oh, I almost forgot...It's kinda off subject, but as long as you're on the line, mind if I ask something? It's something I've been meaning to ask for a while." Yosuke asked Souji over the phone after the Midnight Channel.

"_Shoot." _

"So...what do you think about Yukiko, Emiko, and Chie? I mean, let's not mince words...which one is your type?"

Souji sighed over the phone. Damn Yosuke for putting him on the spot. He had barely just met them. They were all great friends, but...was he supposed to have a type?

"_Can we take Emiko out of this equation? You've known her for a long time, and I feel uncomfortable telling you anything..."_ Souji muttered.

"Whoa, wait, are you telling me _Emiko's_ your type? Not that she's not a great girl, but..." Yosuke just about yelled into the phone.

"_No, Yosuke, I did not say that." _

"Oh. Well, it's okay about Emiko. Is she?"

"_Uh, sure? I like them all, honestly." _

Yosuke sighed. "Dude, that's not an answer. But I guess you need time to know them first. Anyway, see ya tomorrow!"

* * *

The next morning...

"Kou-kun! I heard you have your own house." Emiko said as a way of greeting as she entered her classroom.

"Uh, yeah? It's right next to my family's though, so no parties or anything..." Kou said, confused. "Why?"

"I want to come over. Not today. But someday. And then we can...I dunno, do something." Emiko said thoughtfully.

"Why on earth would you want to come to my house?" Kou asked incredulously.

"Why...? Because we're friends, aren't we? And friends go to each other's houses and eat all the food. So stock up." Emiko said as she slid into her desk.

Kou shot her a dirty look. "You're just as bad as Daisuke. Actually, he's worse."

Emiko's mouth dropped open, offended. "Hey, I am so not that bad. Either way, I'm coming over one day." She declared.

"Okay...if I come to yours and eat all your food." Kou bargained.

"Why my food?" Emiko whined.

Kou grinned. "Because that's what friends do. They listen, they talk, they do stuff, and they eat. Together."

* * *

After school, Emiko ran over to Class 2-2 to catch the end of a sentence.

"...Did you see the news special yesterday?" Chie was asking.

"Yeah, I saw it." Said Yosuke.

"About Kanji Tatsumi? The one telling everyone to 'get bent'?" Emiko asked.

"That special on biker gangs? I watched it too. He wasn't like that when he was younger though." Yukiko said.

"You know him, Yukiko?" Chie asked, shocked.

"Uh-huh, but we haven't talked to each other in a long time." Yukiko nodded. "His family runs a textile shop, and we've been a customer of theirs for many years. So I speak with Kanji-kun's mother from time to time."

"Oh, I think I've seen that around the shopping district." Emiko wrinkled her nose. "Why don't we go there now? We might be able to talk to him in person."

"Sounds good. At the very least, we'll be able to ask him if anything strange has happened lately." Chie replied. "I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't fly off the handle in his family's store."

"All right then, let's get going." Yosuke made to move.

"If things get rough, we're counting on you guys!" Chie exclaimed cheerfully, winking at Emiko. She laughed, and ignoring Yosuke's dumbfounded look, she linked arms with Chie and walked out of the classroom while Chie tugged Yukiko along.

* * *

When the group got to Tatsumi Textiles, there was already a short boy asking Kanji's mother something.

"Hello." Yukiko greeted Mrs. Tatsumi.

"Well then, if you'll excuse me, ma'm." The boy excused himself.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't help more." The shop owner seemed apologetic.

"Oh no, you've given me plenty to think about. Thank you." The boy smiled and left the store.

"What's up with him? ...Weirdo." Yosuke commented.

"Dunno, never seen him before." Chie said.

"Hello Yuki-chan. You're looking lovely, as always." The shop owner greeted them. "How can I help you today? Are you out shopping with your friends?"

"Oh, well, um...actually..." Yukiko stuttered. As Souji and Yukiko began to talk to Mrs. Tatsumi, Yosuke, Chie, and Emiko looked around the store. Chie stopped at a scarf, looking somewhat...apprehensive.

"Hey, this scarf...I've seen it somewhere before..." she trailed off.

"Huh?" Yosuke looked over at it. "You're right. Where was it...?"

"Oh! It was that place! Inside the TV!" Chie exclaimed. Emiko sighed.

"Say it a little louder. I'm sure no one heard you say 'inside the TV'..." she grumbled. "Seriously, pipe down."

"That's right! The room with those faceless posters! Then...it's that announcer's..." Yosuke said, ignorning Emiko.

"Oh, are you acquaintances of Ms. Yamano?" The shop owner asked.

"Uh, well...kinda." Yosuke said. "Did Ms. Yamano happen to have a scarf like this?"

"Yes, it was a special order she placed. She actually ordered a pair, but in the end, she said she only wanted the women's scarf. It left us with no choice but to sell this one separately." The shop owner explained.

"Oh man...there is a connection to the first case? What're we gonna do?" Chie asked, looking scared.

"It's just a scarf though...is that really much of a connection?" Emiko wrinkled her nose.

"That's sorta all we got on theories, so shut it." Yosuke said.

Just then, a delivery came. "Hello! Delivery here for the Tatsumis!" The deliveryman called.

"Oh, I'll be right there." The shop owner called, then turned back to Yukiko. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Oh, that's okay, we were just leaving." Chie said.

"I'll come again, Ma'm." Yukiko said politely as they exited the shop.

"It really is connected to the first case after all…" Yosuke said.

"But it's still just a scarf. Would the killer target someone just because of that…?" Emiko asked. "C'mon, let's talk outside."

As they stepped outside, they saw the strange boy from earlier. He seemed to be talking to someone else near the shop.

"It's Kanji-kun!" Yukiko said, surprised.

"Wha—quick, hide!" Yosuke hissed as he herded them all to an alley next to Tatsumi Textiles.

"You're not fooling anyone, y'know..." Chie muttered.

"Shh, I can't hear what they're saying!" Yosuke shushed her.

"T-tomorrow's fine with me...huh? S-school? Course I'm going to school..." Kanji stuttered.

"Then I'll meet you at the gates after school tomorrow." The other boy confirmed. He quickly walked away, leaving behind a very confused looking Kanji.

"Huh? D-did he say he was interested? But he's a guy...and I'm a guy...and he's interested in me?" Kanji went red as he tried to figure things out. Emiko slapped her forehead. Hoo boy.

At that moment, Kanji looked over at the group. It wasn't very hard to discover them, as they weren't hiding much in the first place...

"Huh? Wh-what're you pricks looking at?" Kanji exclaimed, waving a fist at them.

"Yeek! Run!" Emiko pushed the other four out of the alley and they ran past many stores in the Shopping District until they reached the bookstore.

"That scared the hell outta me. He's even worse in person than on TV..." Chie panted.

"That was definitely Kanji-kun on the TV last night." Yukiko stated.

"Yeah… And I just realized something." Yosuke looked up. "Remember the common points we were talking about? His mom fits the pattern. She's a woman, and she knew Ms. Yamano. But it was her son who appeared on TV… So what does that mean?"

"Kanji's a target. I mean, he did show up on the Midnight Channel." Souji said.

"Yeah, that's what it seemed like, but now it seems his mother fits the pattern more than he does." Said Yosuke.

"Oh, maybe it's similar to my case and Emiko-chan's case. If you think about it, my mother fit the victim's profile more than I did, but I was the one who was kidnapped. What about you, Emiko-chan? Didn't you say something about your mother?"

Emiko nodded. "Yeah, she was the one who actually talked to the announcer. But I was targeted."

"Does that mean it'll be the kid again, instead of the mother?" Chie wondered. "But if that's true, then the killer's motive would make no sense at all. It'd have nothing to do with silencing witnesses or revenge or anything."

"Y'think we're on the wrong track? Maybe the first case had nothing to do with grudges or revenge..." said Yosuke. "Argh, I'm totally lost!"

"Why don't we ask Kanji himself? We can ask him if anything weird has happened lately." Emiko suggested.

"Hey, wasn't Kanji making plans with that weird kid a moment ago? Something about meeting up at school. I heard he's been skipping school ever since the new year started… Doesn't that see a little suspicious?" Yosuke paused.

"Well, he doesn't really seem the type to attend school..." Emiko snorted.

"Yeah, it is weird. There's something suspicious here...I can smell it." Chie pursed her lips.

""Sense"? You sound like Teddie…" Yosuke grinned. "Still, we might find some clues."

"All right… Let's try staking out both Kanji and his family's store. We definitely don't want the killer getting ahead of us." Emiko said cheerfully.

Yosuke suddenly turned to Yukiko.

"That being said...Yukiko, can I have your cell number?"

"Hey, was this your plan all along?" Chie frowned.

"Uh, no? I've got everyone's number except for hers. And the Y section of my address book needs filling out!" Yosuke winked.

Emiko gaped.

"Yosuke Hanamura. Yosuke _fucking_ Hanamura. How dare you even try that?! Considering you have all our phone numbers, you definitely have mine, right?" Emiko took a step forward, and then another, and another, until she was nose to nose with Yosuke. He gulped. "Well, explain to me why you didn't call me for months. I was your best friend. You could have called me. I know this Persona thing kept you busy, but you could have called me before that."

Instead of yelling like she thought she would, Emiko's voice was deadly calm. Like a snake. Yosuke looked away, feeling guilty. He'd better.

"You want to know why I ended up not trusting anyone? Because they did to me the exact same thing you did. They left me behind. They threw me away, like I was just something they used for fun. I trusted you because you brought me out of that hellhole, but you, Yosuke, you are just as bad as them." Emiko hissed, dangerously close to slapping him. "I am not just there so you can play around with me when you want, I am not just there to distract you from other problems, like this. And Saki-senpai. Really, Yosuke. You just forgot about me and went around chasing after her. And that, that hurts. Because I thought I meant something. But apparently, I'm not even worth as much as a senpai who didn't give two shits about you."

"Don't say that." Yosuke scowled. Emiko sneered at him.

"I think I've earned the right to say what I want. You left me behind. Everyone leaves me, in the end. Forget promises. And it is true, she didn't care about you like you thought. You just wanted something new, so you left everything else. But I'm a human being, Yosuke, and though many don't think I have feelings because I never talked, I feel. Oh, I feel, and I've been hurt so many times, I have a heart of ice. Which you thawed, for a small amount of time. Did you know, I am _this_ close to slapping you?" Emiko snarled. Chie, who was watching the whole exchange with growing alarm, pulled Emiko back from Yosuke and whispered in her ear.

"Not here, not now. Fix it later."

Emiko sighed and turned away from Yosuke, from Chie, Souji, Yukiko, and began walking away. Chie started after her, but Souji sent her a glance to stay where she was.

"I...think we'll figure it out later." Yosuke mumbled as he also turned away, still standing there.

"...I have to buy tofu on the way home." Yukiko said suddenly. Yosuke winced.

"...She didn't hear a word I said before, did she."

"Nope." Chie said, trying to lift the tension in the air. "Stakeout for tomorrow, then!" She pushed Yukiko away, leaving Souji with Yosuke.

Souji put a hand on Yosuke's shoulder.

"Think on it." He left him in search of Emiko.

* * *

"Damn that Yosuke. I didn't even realize I wanted to say that, but there I went and said it." Emiko grumbled. She was sitting on the steps of the shrine. "Hey, Souji."

"Hey." He sat down next to Emiko. "Do you feel better?"

Emiko sighed. "I didn't realize I felt that way. But then...I just spit it all out. I guess I feel better that I knew what I had been feeling, and I accepted it. But now I feel I might have messed up our friendship."

"Do you want to keep that friendship?"

"Yes. I mean, he might be a forgetful, perverted, idiotic, not sensitive dickhead, but...well, in all, he's an ass. A good ass, though. But after what I said..." Emiko trailed off.

"It'll be fine, then. If you want to still be friends, and he wants to still be friends, you'll work it out. By tomorrow. I'm giving you a deadline." Souji smiled.

"How do you know he still wants to be friends?"  
"Because he does." Souji said. "Trust me."

"All right. I'll try to make it by your deadline." Emiko laughed a little. "Honestly though, it was true. I felt left behind. And angry. And used. And hurt. I said some nasty things back there though."

"It was what you thought. Let it out."

"About Saki-senpai, though. She might not have really cared about Yosuke, but I shouldn't have said it like that. I never knew her. I don't have the right to say anything about her. I'm sure there was a reason Yosuke liked her. She must have been a good person." Emiko groaned and buried her head in her lap. "He hates me. He's never going to talk to me ever again."

Souji smirked. "And if he didn't care about you, do you think he would listen to you?"

"No. Yes. I mean, what? Wait, what?" Emiko looked up, somewhat teary eyed. "Wait, listen to me? When?"

"Oh, right about the times you feel upset and close to tears. How about now?" Souji stood up. "Go talk. Work it out." He looked straight into the bushes, where a frazzled Yosuke shuffled out from.

"I hate you." He scowled. Souji laughed and walked away.

"Sure." (Rank 2)

Yosuke sidled up to Emiko and sat next to her. She buried her head in her lap again.

"What?" she said, her voice muffled.

"I, uh..." Yosuke struggled to find words to explain. "Well. I don't hate you."

"That's nice. I don't hate you either." Emiko said, still not looking up.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did. I mean, I am sort of an ass." Yosuke tried to look at Emiko, who was still hiding her face. She let out a strangled laugh.

"Yep. You are that. I'm sort of an ass too."

"I guess that's why we fit, 'cause we say and do things...more strongly than we meant." Yosuke scratched the back of his head. "Look up."

"I'm not an attractive crier." Emiko responded.

"...Is anyone? And who cares anyway?" Yosuke scoffed and pulled her head up. A few tears had escaped from Emiko's eyes and were trailing down her face. She sniffled and launched herself into Yosuke's chest.

"I hate you."

"I thought you just said you didn't?" He joked, holding her to him.

"...I'm sorry. For saying everything. I meant it though, but not like that. And I shouldn't have said that about Saki-senpai. I mean, you loved her and I had no right to say anything when I didn't know anything about her." Emiko apologized.

"Hey, I should be the one apologizing. I was the one who didn't contact you at all ever since I moved to Inaba. I'm sorry for that. I really am just like everyone else, even though I said I wasn't." Yosuke sighed.

"You're not like everyone else. You were my friend back then, and you're still my friend now, and not out of obligation. You're so much better than them." Emiko said, calming down a bit. "We're still friends, right?"

"Duh. It'd really put a damper on the team morale if we weren't while we were exploring in the TV world." Yosuke joked. "Stakeout tomorrow after school, yeah?"

Emiko wiped away the last of her tears. "Yeah."

* * *

**A/N: So I'm back with chapter 4! I hope you guys like it! Planning to put a lot more of the fun Kanji stuff in the next chapter...:D  
There's also another fun story I'm working on; and it has to do with this story, but I'm not sure where it fits in the timeline. Probably right after Naoto. So I'll post that when we get there...which might take a while, unfortunately.  
As always, please review, follow, and favorite! :D**

Just type your thoughts in the box below and post it! :D


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